There are two main types of indoor bathing, bathing in a shower and bathing in a bathtub. In both, the person can be sprayed with water by a showerhead that is attached to the water mains through a shower hose. Basically, there are two types of shower hoses attached to showerheads. The first is a fixed showerhead that is adapted mostly for bathing in a shower and is screwed onto the top end of a shower riser. The second type includes a shower hose extension that allows movement between rigid links and by pivotal joints. These two types are well known in the art.
The shower hose extensions that are flexible are usually provided with a holder that allows suspending the sprayer when the user is bathing. Supporters were developed and as an example one can see a shower support disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,003 “Adjustable Support for a Shower” by Knapp. The adjustable support for a shower includes a rod installed substantially in a vertical position, which is supported near its midpoint by a support bracket integrally formed with a mixing valve handle assembly. This and other similar types of supports enable the user to adjust the shower head only in one direction.
Shower hoses constructed of hollow beads were developed in order to assemble a shower hose that is more flexible and comfortable. Enhanced flexibility and applications of the hose made of jointed beads is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,352 “Flexible Tube having a Number of Joints” and in GB patent no. 2,317,641 “A Flexible Tube Made of Repeated Sections” both disclosed by Tzong. The flexible tube includes a number of joint members each having a neck portion of a reduced diameter formed between a spherical member and a semi-spherical member. The joint members have a hollow passage.
There were attempts to develop an adjustable shower hose made of joint members that allows the user to adjust the 3-D positioning of the shower head. Example of a configurable hose is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,570 “Self-Supporting Reconfigurable Hose” by Smeltzer. The reconfigurable self-supporting hose allows the user to select the position of the sprayer, as well as the direction of the water spray from the sprayer, or shower head. The position of the shower head and the direction of spray from the shower head can be adjusted to remain in the desired position until modified by the user. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,569 “Flexible Shower Arm Assembly” by Hollinshead. The patented flexible shower arm assembly allows the user to repeatedly adjust the position of the shower head in three dimensions by configuring the shape of the shower arm attached between the water source and the water dispenser. The hoses based on the principles disclosed in the patent documents are relatively rigid structures that are reconfigured manually by applying force on the parts of the hose. These types of structures are limited to relatively short arms, and fail to hold the desired structure of hose if the joints become loose.
There is a need for a hose that can be changed from a fully flexible hose to a fully rigid hose so that the hose can be reformed in a 3D structure very easily and according to specific needs.
The hose of the present invention can be used for other applications such as passageway for electrical wires or other wires that have to be transferred from one end to the other. An example for such an application is a microphone hose that can be in a rigid mode when desired and can be transferred from place to place in the flexible mode.